Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Colby Rasmus: Ice Cold Killa


With his season in the balance, Nick signs top-tier prospect Colby Rasmus for the remainder of the year. The injury to the struggling Nate McLouth opens a spot for cocky Colby to produce immediately. To make the playoffs, Nick must go 6-0 in his final six games. Nick is the winner of the NL Championship just a year ago, has appeared in two world series and has never missed the playoffs, so this development is shocking the entire league to its core.

Stay tuned!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Evan Turner doesn't have anything on PTP

Carlo and I hooked up for a Saturday morning tilt on the Southeast side of Janesville. A playoff atmosphere was apparent, with all games very tightly contested:

Carlo at Fish

Game 1: J. Johnson vs. C. Carpenter
Chris Coghlan continues frustrate the Astros as he had in the previous series. He leads the game off with a lead of single and scores in the 1st with a Brian McCann sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the second, Derrick Lee hit the longest home run (solo) in Minute Maid Field, a 500 ft (and then plus 10 with carry) home run over the hill in center field, landing on the train tracks. However, Carlo would keep chipping away with runs in the first five innings to drive Chris Carpenter from the game. He put the game away with a three run home run in the top of the eight from Casey McGehee.
Final Score: Carlo 8 – Fish 4
Winning Pitcher: J. Johnson
Losing Pitcher: C. Carpenter
Home Runs: Lee, Furcal, Hawpe, McGehee







Game 2: U. Jiminez vs T. Hansen
The Astros came out with bats in hand, scoring 4 in the bottom of the 1st with contributed by a base hit from Bourn, walks from Castillo, Lee, and a three run double from Brad Hawpe. Tommy Gun Hansen was pitching a gem until the 5th inning, when his arm started to fall off – he gave up 4 runs in the frame, including a three run blast by Brian McCann. Furcal scored in the bottom of the 5th after reaching base on a Prado error, which proved costly. Carlo would score again in the top of the 7th, however Trevor Hoffman would be able to close out the one run game in the ninth.

Final Score: Fish 5 – Carlo 4
Winning Pitcher: U. Jiminez
Losing Pitcher: T. Hansen
Save: T. Hoffman
Home Runs: McCann

Game 3: R. Nolasco vs. R. Oswalt
The game started out well for the Astros in the first inning with a leadoff double from Michael Bourn and was drove in on a Derrick Lee triple. Roy Oswalt was cruising into the 4th inning, when Carlo’s team opened up the flood gates – 6 hits and five runs, with nearly everyone in the order getting a hit and/or scoring a run. Carlo added another run from the Beretta Ianetta, solo run job in the top of the 6th. Then, in the bottom of the 8th, after Nolasco gave up back to back singles with no one out, Dan Meyer entered the ball game to face a pinch hitting Cody Ross, who went yard for a three run shot. Another run was added in the frame to tie the game going into the 9th. Carlo was able to score a run in the top of the 9th off of Hoffman, when McCann walked and was driven home by Coghlan. However, in the bottom of the 9th, after lead off hits by Bourn and Castillo (who advanced on a fielder’s choice), Cody Ross hit a ground ball to Theriot who booted it to allow both runners to score.

Final Score: Fish 8 – Carlo 7
Winning Pitcher: T. Hoffman
Losing Pitcher: D. Meyer
Home Runs: Beretta Ianetta, Ross

Thursday, March 11, 2010

That's Some Hot Shit




After starting the season slow, Andy McCutcheon is now one of the hottest players in the league. That, and I've been biding my time to post his pic since this blog started...

Fish at Keith: Molinas Collide!

Greetings boys. We had a doozy up in Madison this evening - here's the details for you hard-core mugs still following along:

Game 1: Oswalt vs. Gallardo
Well-pitched ballgame...for awhile. Ryan Braun's two-run job in the 3rd put Fish up 2-0 until the bottom of the 5th, when Andy McCutchen came in following a leadoff triple to make the score 2-1. Things got real bad after that, as Fish drove in 7 runs in the final four innings to drub Keith 9-1. Mid-season pickup Willie Harris led the way for Fish, surprisingly, with 3 RBI's.


Fish wins 9-1
WP - Oswalt
LP - Gallardo

Game 2: Kuroda vs. Cueto
Here's a couple of pitchers who won't be getting a call from the Hall of Fame anytime soon. Fish jumped out to a 3-1 lead after 3, scoring a run in each inning - highlighted by a Benji Molina solo jack to lead off the 2nd. My squad warmed up from there, however, knocking in 3 runs each in the 4th and the 5th led by Ryan Zimmerman (HR in the 4th, 1B in the 5th) and the red-hot Andy McCutcheon (3B in the 4th, HR in 5th). Kuroda fell apart, Ryan Madsen came in and was promptly shelled.

Keith wins 8-5
WP - Cueto
LP - Kuroda

Game 3: Hammel vs. Santana

I know we hate lefties, but you had to like Santana going into this one. He pitched well, but things got weird before it was all said and done. Keith took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd on a Zimmerman double, a Hunter "is he wearing any under-" Pence triple and a Yadie Molina RBI. A Pujols "don't forget about me" solo job in the bottom of the 6th gave Keith a 3-0 lead before Fish raised hell in the top of the 7th, driving in 4 runs to take the lead by one. Keith came back with three more runs - both teams playing station-to-station NL baseball at this point - sending it to the top of the 8th 6-4.

Things got nuts in the 8th, with Fish bringing in 2 runs in the midst of a punches-thrown, bench-clearing brawl ignited by Yadie Molina and Brad Hawpe (both ejected). The two runs was enough to tie the game, however, and fans got themselves a little free baseball after neither team was able to score in the remainder of the 8th and throughout the 9th.

Rubber bands, glue and mirrors allowed this game to go 15 innings, despite Fish leaving Furcal on 3rd in the 11th, Hammel (yeah, his 6th pitcher) on 3rd in the 13th, and Keith having Pence gunned down at the plate and leaving Ibanez on 3rd in the 13th. The game finally ended, 7-6, with Brendan Ryan driving in Ibanez in the bottom of the 15th.

Keith wins 7-6
WP - Moylan
LP - Thatcher

Keith wins series 2-1

Saturday, March 6, 2010

SWEEEEEP! Takin' a broom in the Pujols - Torto vs. Keith series update

No - this series didn't take place in Johnson's Creek, despite the title of this post.  Nope, the venue was Morry's Bar in Beaver Dam. And it was the dreaded third time I would have to face the monstrous bat of Albert Pujols, thanks to the blockbuster trade at Lake Lawn.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't irritated that I would have to see the best active player in baseball again this season. I had kept him in check vs. Butler, but for a third series?  Didn't like my chances.  Nothing I could do about it though, so roll the dice we did. 

Game 1:  J.Santana at J.Vasquez
Team Torto jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, on a Jason Werth 2-out double, scoring the speedy Juan Pierre.  Keith stopped the inning from getting worse by gunning down Werth at the plate while he tried to score on a Carlos Lee single. 2 more runs on a Jayson Werth 2-run shot in the 3rd extended the lead to 3-0.  Keith tied it up in the top of the 4th on a 2-RBI Raul Ibanez double, and an RBI ground out from Ramon Hernadez.  I counter punched with a 2-run bottom of the 4th, on Juan Pierre and Toddfather Helton RBI-singles.  That ended up being all that was needed to secure the win, but an insurance run was tacked on in the 7th to help.  Javy Vasquez cruised from the 4th on, retiring 16 of the next 17 batters, and getting the complete game.
Torto wins 6-3
WP - J.Vasquez;  LP - J.Santana
HRs - J.Werth (11)
Player of the Game - J.Vasquez 9 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 14K, 3 ER, CG

Game 2:  A.Harang at C.Billingsley
A pitchers duel this time around, with both Harang and C-Bill going 8 frames deep.  I got on the board first scoring the ole Skippy Schu on a 2-out RBI single from the KF Panda.  Keith tied it up in the 3rd on a Andrew McCutchen solo shot.  I took the lead back on a solo dinger from a 'D-power' deep drive from Pedro Feliz (courtesy of the plus-40' carry at Coors Field).  Top of the 7th, Keith tied it again on a Harang sac bunt RBI.  Bottom of the 9th drama here folks - The Toddfather led off the inning with a single, and Sandoval singled Helton over to 2nd.  Werth grounded out (killing them) softly, but moved the runners over.  Angel Pagan dragged a bunt, but Keith was ready and and got the lead out, gunning down Helton at the plate.  With 2-outs and men on the corners, The Righteous Randy Winn stepped up and slapped a game-winning single to walk the game off.
Torto wins 3-2
WP - G.Mota; LP - J.Bellisario
HRs - A.McCutchen, P.Feliz (2) 
Player of the Game - Randy Winn 1-3 with GW RBI single

Game 3: B.Arroyo at R.Dempster
Runs all over the place in this one. Dempster finally came off the DL, and it was clear it was rushed.  Keith jumped out big, getting 9 runs in the first 6 innings, in part from a 2-run HR from Yadier Molina, and several RBI-singles from Brendan Ryan and Hunter Pence.  I got a couple back in the 3rd on a Toddfather RBI groundout double play, followed by Panda solo HR.  Werth cut the lead to 9-3 in the bottom of the 6th on a RBI-double, but things seemed grim after the 7th inning stretch. But then Arroyo got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the seventh giving up 4 runs. Koko Kordero came in to deal with the remaining base runners and got Keith out of the 7th, with a 9-7 lead. After that, Koko had little interest in getting batters out.  In the 8th, he gave up 4 consecutive singles, then walked the next batter. That was it for Koko, but the damage was done, and the lead was yielded,  10-9 Torto.  Huston Street made it interesting in the top of the ninth, yielding 2 singles after retiring Pujols and Zimmerman, before striking out Ibanez to close out the win.
Torto wins 10-9
WP - G.Mota; LP - F.Cordero; S - H.Street
HRs - P.Sandoval (11), Y.Molina
Player of the Game - P.Sandoval 2-3 w/ HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Torto take series 3-0
Series MVP - Jason Werth 5-12 w/ HR, 2 2Bs, 6 RBI 

Overall a very tightly contested series, but with Keith just seeming to come up short in the close games.  Pujols got his hits, but was kept in check due to his teammates not setting the table for him. 

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Nick's team: good at stats, bad at baseball



Hey, yall...

So, I have actually been accumulating my stats. I still need one series from Torto (who is sending me my stats) and two from Butler (who never sends me my stats), so I am missing five games. Regardless, I have a few notables for the leaders...
  • Ryan Howard has ten homers (and I think at least two more in the missing series)
  • Howard has 31 RBIS.
  • Most surprising is Howard's .356 batting average.
  • Nyjer Morgan was batting .347 before his injury.
  • Hanley Ramirez has five steals (good for first place)...Nyjer Morgan had three...and I don't even like stealing bases...
All gag-reflex team:
  • Chipper Jones just has just not worked out on my team. His batting average is .218 and he's had at least ten errors on the year.
  • The other dead-spot in my lineup this year has been Nate McLouth. I'm kinda glad he is injured for the year. He is batting a paltry .152 on the season. Yuck...I have had terrible luck with Braves.

Wednesday Action

More details are to come but last night at Casa de Rockwell

Carlo beat Spencer 2-1
- spencer lost Matt Holliday the rest of the regular season (6 more games)

Keither beat Nick 2-1
-nick has officially "thrown in the towel"
-  Keither now 7-2 since the trade for Pujols